Tamara Fleming, photographer
Visitors had the chance last weekend to explore more than 65 artist studios and maker spaces at an open house at Manufacturers Village, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing affordable studio space for artists in East Orange and the surrounding area.
Among the artists was Jennifer T. Ley of Bloomfield. She was showcasing ceramics she made at Parsons School of Design in the 1980s. “They were never shown before,” she said.
Her exhibit “Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983” was featured at MoMA from October 31, 2017 to April 8, 2018.
Jill Hellman of Edgewater is a mixed media artist. She uses pastels, graphite, charcoal. She said, “I don’t start with a floor plan. I let it happen. I’m an intuitive painter.”
Rachel Fawn Alban of Newark is new to Manufacturers Village. She moved into the studio in May. She creates cyanotypes—photographic prints made using a simple, camera-less contact printing process that produces a signature Prussian blue hue. The technique works by using UV light to expose objects placed on paper or fabric coated with a light-sensitive solution, which is then washed in water to develop the image. She said, “Cyanotypes are the oldest forms of photography.”
Tamara Fleming of Orange is a photographer who teaches photography at University High School in Newark. She said when she was younger, she was “super shy” and when she became a photographer, she realized she could help others get over that. “From eighth grade to high school is the most vulnerable,” she said.
Kate Dodd of Orange had some new pieces on display, including “Disaster Cycle-Rama” which has a painting inside the cycle so a visitor can be inside the scene. She said she went through children’s encyclopedias and used pictures associated with possible disasters. An example is a picture of a caveman looking for dinner next to a hamster destroying documents and censored books being shoveled into a fireplace.
Enver Vucetaj of West Orange draws some recognizable stuff juxtaposed with other images to create a new narrative.
“I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s and have a strong connection with media,” he said. “I see meanings in these things and try to express the narrative. John Amos is a father figure to me. I didn’t grow up with a dad. My biological dad died in a car crash.”
Using a picture of John Amos on his cheeseburger phone, next to a drawing of a demolished car is poetic to Vucetaj.
Kathleen Heron of Orange is a senior collections specialist at Pink Dragon Artist Syndicate LLC. They had a display honoring the work of the late Newark artist Jerry Gant. Heron was telling visitors about the work of Gant, who created wearable art, metal sculptures, woodcarving, and wall murals.
Rachel Pruzan of Maplewood said, “My art is about embracing imperfection and looking like it lived.” She uses fire in all her work. And sometimes she’ll use pieces of grass intentionally.
Pruzan begins her pieces working in her backyard and does the final work at Manufacturers Village. “I’m primal with my work and I love to work on the ground,” she said.
Christine Romanell of Little Falls currently has her work showing at Montclair Art Museum. She said she’s inspired by sacred geometry. Her art practice explores the infinite through intricate, ever-expanding circular patterns.
To learn more about Manufacturers Village Artists, visit: https://www.manufacturersvillageartists.com/.
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